THE HATE PROPAGANDA

Author: Swastik Sekhar Panigrahi, II year of B.A., LL.B. from KIIT school of Law, Bhubaneswar.

Hate is the antonym of love. Anyone who is against love, peace and non-violence is a supporter of hate and all his acts become propaganda against the state. India by 42nd amendment became a secular state officially but secularism was always its ideal, as the honourable Supreme Court said in S.R. Bommai vs Union of India.[1] But time and again we have seen the horrible situations in our country, where violence is promulgated and incited freely, and the legislative and executive have stayed like a watchdog. The blatant misuse of power by government officials in promoting such events is not a new thing in our country. The ideological groups along with their political parties have become partners of crime and there is no one to safeguard the fundamental rights of the citizens. The corruption is so high that the actions taken by one political group against another are nothing but a take of appeasement. And once the polls are out, they show their real faces.

Bajrang Dal as described by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is a religious militant group.[2] It is known for spreading violence in the form of social awareness and Hindutva in India. They claim to be secular but their actions prove their ideals. They come out as groups and thrash couples during Valentine’s day. They call themselves social police and force unmarried couples to apply sindoor or tie rakhis against their wishes. [3] This form of public harassment can nowhere be seen in a democracy and this goon rule is a form of saffron terror. The fundamental rights granted by the constitution is openly violated and the people who are victims of it are threatened not to report it. Videos of such harassment and torture are made and circulated on social media platforms to spread hate and threaten people.[4] The torture is so high sometimes that people commit suicide in the fear of shame, disrespect and guiltiness.[5] Bajrang Dal has posted several videos, misinformation, hate speeches, and violence on social media platforms like Facebook, but no action has been taken by the media giant fearing a crackdown of its operations.

The law against love jihad in the state of UP has given a free hand to these groups to harness, threaten and prohibit interfaith couples to marry. There are numerous reports of incidents where the law has been misused to accomplish the ideological goals of Hindutva.[6] One more such example is the cow vigilantism incidents. The involvement of the Bajrang Dal has been found in several incidents of mob lynching and violence in the form of cow vigilantism in India.[7]

Bajrang Dal claims itself to be a defender of Hindutva but its extremist ideologies nowhere comply with the ideals of Hinduism, which is an eternal religion and a peaceful way of life. The fascist ideals of these right-winged groups are visible in their activities like the demolition of Babri Masjid[8], their involvement in Godhra riots in Gujarat 2002 [9], 2003 Parbhani mosque blasts[10] and many other communal disturbances in the country. As per Justice Liberhan Commission’s report, top BJP, RSS and VHP leaders were involved in the Babri Masjid Demolition.[11]

Bajrang Dal groups forcefully stop conversions which they claim to be forceful conversions. The irony is so vital since we are seeing one militant group being created to curb militancy. They threaten Hindus from visiting churches during Christmas[12] and there have been incidents like the tribal people of Assam being forced to convert to Hinduism by violence.[13] Graham Staines, who was a missionary and a social worker in tribal areas of Kandhamal was killed along with his two children by Dara Singh, a Hindu extremist and a Bajrang Dal member who was against religious conversions. [14]This raised a huge concern about the violent ways of this group. But there was no regret, instead, he was celebrated as a hero, by the organisation. Article 25 of the Constitution which allows every individual to freely profess, practice and propagate his religion is immensely violated by these extremist groups. Even after these reported events, no preventive action has been taken by the government to ban Bajrang Dal.

Communalism was never an idea of this country and the pillars of democracy, secularism, equality and fraternity have made this country strong. Rioting and Vigilantism can never be a solution, rather people should be committed to the law and governance. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the former Prime minister said, it only embarrassed BJP when they indulged in violence.[15] To safeguard the fundamental rights of the citizen and prevention of such incidents of extreme violence, it is the need of the hour that the legislative should ban such militant groups and create laws to prohibit them. There is no need for extremists to become social policy and there is no law that allows them to do so. The honourable Supreme Court is the apex authority to recognise people's rights and a judicial committee should be enacted to keep a check on such incidents where government officials violate the law and indulge in such crime. The true nature of democracy lies in the way it takes responsibility for every citizen of the country. Thus the hate propaganda needs to be stopped.

[1] S.R. Bommai vs Union Of India, 1994 AIR 1918, 1994 SCC (3) 1

[2]https://thewire.in/communalism/cia-world-factbook-bajrang-dal-vhp-religious-militant-organisations

3https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/hyderabad/couples-out-on-valentines-day-will-be-given-lessons-on-patriotism-bajrang-dal-6266891/

[4] https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5iga32

[5] https://www.deccanherald.com/content/652819/social-media-message-bajrang-dal.html

[6]https://theprint.in/india/heckled-tortured-wife-miscarries-man-in-jail-bajrang-dal-blamed-for-up-love-jihad-tragedy/568324/

[7]https://scroll.in/latest/833734/rajasthan-man-dies-after-vhp-bajrang-dal-linked-cow-vigilantes-attack-him-over-suspected-smuggling

[8]https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/babri-masjid-demolition-case-key-figures-among-32-accused-including-lk-advani/articleshow/78404878.cms?from=mdr

[9] https://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/india/

[10] https://frontline.thehindu.com/the-nation/article30198512.ece

[11] https://thewire.in/communalism/justice-liberhan-commission-babri-masjid

[12]https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/bajrang-dal-leaders-threat-to-beat-up-hindus-visiting-church-to-be-probed/article33263323.ece

[13]http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Assam:-tribal-Christians-beaten-and-forced-to-convert-to-Hinduism-25003.html

[14] https://archive.org/details/violentgodshindu00chat

[15] https://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020429/nation.htm#1

Author's Biography

Swastik Sekhar Panigrahi is a 2nd year law student of KIIT School of law, Bhubaneswar. He has great interest in Indian politics and the legal angle to it. He has previously worked with Odisha Human Rights Commission and worked on various programs for legal awareness and protection of human rights. He is quite optimistic and believes that proper enforcement of law and legal awareness in people can bring a change in our country.